The Eagles, Sheryl Crow and Indy 4

What a week. This will mostly be a departure from the heavily political stuff I usually talk about. Where shall we begin?

On Tuesday, I saw the Eagles in Alpharetta, GA. Despite the rain, hail, thunder, lightning, and tornado sirens that plagued my arrival, I had a wonderful evening with one of the bands I admire most. A lot of people may think that bands like the Eagles should hang it up since they’re in their 50’s and 60’s, but from what I saw, they haven’t lost any steam. These guys rocked and nailed every single song perfectly.

I have immense respect for artists that can do what they do for so long and still do it well. While they didn’t play some of the ones I had hoped for like “Seven Bridges Road,” “Already Gone,” “Those Shoes,” “Heart of the Matter” (even though it’s technically a Don Henley song), and “Get Over It,” they still played some of my all-time favorites like “Hotel California,” “Life’s Been Good (Joe Walsh),” “Heartache Tonight,” “Boys of Summer (Henley),” and a large host of others.

The only real qualm I had with the show was when they played “Dirty Laundry” (amazing Don Henley song) with a backdrop video of clips from Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, Rush Limbaugh, the Drudge Report, and other prominent conservative journalists. Virtually nothing from CNN, Matt Lauer, or Katie Couric could be seen in it, possibly because CNN is based in Atlanta, but more likely due to the political views of the Eagles. I understand if you don’t like Fox News, but at least be a little “fair and balanced,” if you’re going to slam the media.

But despite all of that, I have to say that if you think bands like the Eagles are outdated and irrelevant, you’re probably a hater with poor musical taste in my humble opinion. That’s right, I said hater.

On Friday night, I saw Sheryl Crow in Birmingham, AL. I’ve always been a fan of her music, which is why I went to her show despite the fear of being assaulted with a barrage of mindless uber-environmentalist liberal nonsense. I have to say, she wasn’t that bad when it came to pushing her political agenda on us. She did say “I’m going to vote for Obama and I don’t want to hear about it,” to which I thought to myself “I’m…….not going to vote for Obama and…….I don’t want to talk about it.” I mean, what am I going to say? “Well, I’m voting for McCain!” No, for several reasons. First, McCain makes me nauseous. Second, if I do decide to vote for him, it’s not something I’d be all that proud of and/or enthusiastic about. Anyway…

Sheryl played a lot of stuff from her new album including “God Bless This Mess,” “Love is Free,” “Gasoline,” and “Out of Our Heads” (which is ironically stuck in my head). And she played some older stuff like “Strong Enough,” “Can’t Cry Anymore,” “A Change Would Do You Good,” “All I Wanna Do,” and “If it Makes You Happy.” She rocks. And she’s gorgeous. She’s in her mid-forties and she could be supermodel. My hat is off to her. She got dumped by Lance Armstrong (what was he thinking?), beat breast cancer, adopted a baby, and can still rock like she’s 25. I don’t care what her political views are. I’d go see her again in a heartbeat.

Saturday night I went to see “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” I had heard mostly negative reviews from my friends and family that had seen it, but I always want to make a judgment for myself when it comes to movies. I have to say that even though I liked a lot of it, it was generally disappointing. Spielberg needs to move out of a certain genre (those of you who’ve seen it know what I’m talking about). The acting was great, as can be expected considering the cast, but the story was just…silly?It’s hard to put into words. It just wasn’t good.

What a week! I’m tired and I’m off tomorrow for Memorial Day. Being the nerd I am, I’m still hopelessly pining for “The Dark Knight.” Not because I want to see Heath Ledger’s last role, but because Christopher Nolan is an amazing director with an incredible cast. Let’s just hope he doesn’t pull an Indy 4 and waste it all with a poor script, which I highly doubt would happen considering the tangible awesomeness that is “Batman Begins.” Wow, I’m past nerd….I think I’m headed to dork territory. I’d better stop.